- Ceasefire verification mission deploys to eastern DR Congo
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“A mission to verify a fragile ceasefire between the Congolese army and Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 armed group was deployed Monday to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the two sides traded accusations of abuses. The eastern DRC has been riven by decades of conflict with multiple armed groups fighting over its mineral-rich territory, including the M23, which seized further swaths of the region last year. … The mechanism for verfiying ceasefire violations comprises Congolese government and AFC/M23 representatives as well as observers from member countries of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). The mission, the first of its kind, was deployed on Monday by UN helicopters to Minembwe in South Kivu province, which has seen intense clashes in recent months, according to UN and government sources.” (08/24/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20260824-ceasefire-verification-mission-deploys-eastern-dr-congo
- US Marines Cancel Drill With South Korea, Citing Iran War Demands
Source: New York Times
“The United States has canceled a joint amphibious landing exercise with South Korean forces that was set for next month, citing resource constraints driven by the war in Iran, the South Korean military announced Monday. The U.S. Marine Corps had notified its South Korean counterpart in June that Middle East operational demands would prevent the deployment of forces for the biennial exercise known as Ssangyong, or ‘Twin Dragons,’ the South Korean Marine Corps said on Monday. The U.S. military in Korea did not immediately comment on the announcement. The move marked the second joint military drill with South Korea to be canceled or downsized during President Trump’s second term.” (08/24/26)
- NV: Firefighters trying to stop fast-moving wildfire from spreading to homes in Reno
Source: SFGate
“A wildfire that mushroomed over the weekend in the Sierra Nevada foothills spread perilously close to neighborhoods in Reno, Nevada, forcing authorities to urge more than 90,000 residents to leave their homes. The out-of-control fire has already burned some homes, but there’s concern that shifting winds could push the flames into newly developed and densely packed neighborhoods in Nevada’s largest city outside of metro Las Vegas. Schools across the county were closed Monday because of the evacuations and to keep roads clear for emergency crews. At a roadblock in one of the evacuated neighborhoods, residents expressed frustration Monday that they could not get back into their homes.” (08/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/firefighters-are-trying-to-stop-a-fast-moving-22401024.php
- CA: Cancels Paramount Settlement Talks Over $111 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery Deal, Says He’ll Meet When They “Stop Playing Games’”
Source: Variety
“California Attorney General Rob Bonta has canceled planned settlement talks with Paramount over the state’s lawsuit seeking to block David Ellison‘s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, accusing Paramount of acting in bad faith, according to The New York Times. Bonta is leading a coalition of 12 states in challenging the proposed merger and asking the court to block the deal, arguing the merger would give the company too much power across cable television and movie production. The two sides had been due to meet Monday for preliminary discussions for a possible settlement, but Bonta called off the meeting late Sunday, after accusing Paramount of misrepresenting details of an earlier meeting held on Friday.” (08/24/26)
- IL: Cop who murdered Sonya Massey allegedly dies in prison
Source: KRON 4 News
“Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy who was convicted of killing Sonya Massey, has died. Daniel Fultz, one of Grayson’s defense attorneys, confirmed with Nexstar’s WCIA that Grayson died on Sunday. Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Sonya Massey in October of 2025. Massey, a [b]lack woman, had called 911 to report she believed someone was trying to break into her home. Grayson and another deputy responded to the call at 12:50 a.m. on July 6, 2024. Massey was shot by Grayson about 30 minutes later, and was pronounced dead by 1:47 a.m. At the beginning of this year, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Recently, Grayson requested early release from prison on medical grounds. He had been battling colon cancer for years, and in July, WCIA reported the cancer had progressed to Stage 4 and spread to Grayson’s rectum, liver and lungs.” (08/24/26)
- Indonesia intensifies aerial firefighting as wildfire haze spreads to Malaysia
Source: SFGate
“Indonesia intensified its ground and aerial firefighting operations on Monday as huge blazes in central and western regions scorched wide areas of forests and peatland, creating a choking haze that blanketed cities and crossed borders. Indonesian police have arrested 72 people suspected of starting some of the forest and peatland fires, while four companies are under investigation for allegedly using fire to clear land at low cost. Emergency services have been battling fires driven by an intensifying El Nino pattern and a prolonged dry season, generating dense smoke that crossed into Malaysia and Brunei, according to the National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB. Fires remained active in several regions on Monday, according to the agency, while large-scale suppression efforts continue in fire-prone provinces including West, Central and South Kalimantan on Borneo island and in Riau, South Sumatra and Jambi on Sumatra island.” (08/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/indonesia-intensifies-aerial-firefighting-as-22400662.php
- New Zealand: Idiot pol fantasizes about banning children from using social media
Source: Seattle Times
“New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled a proposed law banning children younger than 16 from using social media platforms, citing what he said Monday was “harm being done to a generation” of young people. However, the bill hasn’t yet attracted enough support to pass into law because two of the three parties in Luxon’s coalition government will vote against it. Passage would require support from opposition lawmakers, who have yet to decide how they would vote. There also wasn’t enough time for lawmakers to hold a vote on the proposal before Parliament dissolved on Oct. 1 ahead of November’s election, Luxon said. Bills are required to pass three rounds of voting, usually over a period of months, before they become law.” (08/23/26)
- FL: Gang members abduct father of deployed sailor
Source: USA Today
“The immigrant father of a U.S. sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which was deployed in the Middle East during the Iran war, was [abducted by violent gang members], the sailor said in a Facebook post. U.S. Border Patrol [abducted] Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, originally from Nicaragua, after conducting a vehicle stop in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson of the Department of Homeland Security, of which Border Patrol is a part, separately said on Sunday.” (08/24/26)
- UK: Regime tells TikTok and other platforms to remove videos glorifying dangerous driving
Source: SFGate
“Britain’s government Monday urged TikTok and other social media companies to take down viral videos ‘celebrating’ dangerous driving, after two police officers and five young men were killed in a crash when a car was driven down the wrong side of the road. The collision took place as concerns grow over social media videos showing people driving dangerously on purpose, posted by the drivers themselves or others inside the vehicles at the time. British media reports suggest that one of the people who died in the Volkswagen on Saturday may have previously posted such a video. U.K. Defense Minister Luke Pollard said the government has told TikTok and similar platforms to ‘step up’ and remove such ‘awful content’.” (08/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/britain-tells-tiktok-and-other-platforms-to-22401257.php
- Guinea: Thirty killed in landfill landslide
Source: ABC News
“A mountainous heap of refuse collapsed at the largest landfill in Guinea ‘s capital of Conakry early on Sunday, killing 30 people, according to the central government. Authorities said that heavy rains, which started at around 2 a.m., washed over the refuse at Dar Es Salam — the largest landfill in Conakry — and triggered a landslide that buried nearby shacks. A search and rescue operation was underway to find survivors. Six people were seriously injured and several homes were destroyed. The site, an open-air waste dump which is the largest in the city, had been designated for closure on Sunday, according to Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion.” (08/23/26)
- Russia: Ukrainian drone attack kills three teenagers, officials say
Source: AOL
“Three teenagers were killed and another eight people, including seven children, were wounded after drone debris hit a private childcare centre in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, Russian officials said. In a post on Telegram, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said that three teenagers, aged 13, 15 and 16, had been killed, with six more children hospitalised. Local governor Veniamin Kondratyev said that two adults had also been wounded. … The attack came as Ukraine attacked several logistics centres belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon, including in the town of Enem, close to Krasnodar city.” (08/24/26)
https://www.aol.com/articles/drone-attack-kills-two-children-002943000.html
- Kazakhstan: Newly formed pro-regime party wins parliamentary election
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Kazakhstan’s pro-government Adilet party won more than 71 percent of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, said the electoral commission in a result likely to consolidate the power of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Announcing the results on Monday, the commission said that four other blocs also entered parliament: the pro-business Respublika and Ak Zhol parties, the centre-left Nationwide Social Democratic Party and the Auyl party, which represents rural voters. … Adilet was founded in the Central Asian nation earlier this year and is led by Tokayev’s top aides. Shortly after its inception, it absorbed the previous ruling party, Amanat. All four other parties entering parliament are also seen as broadly supportive of Tokayev’s administration.” (08/24/26)
- US regime imposes 50% tax on American buyers of Canadian goods; Canadian regime to match them “dollar for dollar”
Source: CBS News
“The U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on [American buyers of] $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in already tense relations between the historic allies. Canada’s leader said it will retaliate [by taxing Canadian buyers of American goods] beginning Sept. 8. In a call with reporters late Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada had declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms that had been agreed to earlier this week.” (08/23/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-set-to-impose-50-percent-tariffs-on-canada-after-failed-talks/
- Iran: Pezeshkian defends US deal as best option for peace
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday defended Tehran’s expired Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States as the best option for ending hostilities between the two nations, which Pezeshkian described as being ‘neither war nor peace.’ … ‘There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,’ Pezeshkian said in remarks published by state-run news agency IRNA. ‘The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.’ The MoU, signed by US President Donald Trump in June, laid out a 60-day timeline for ending the US-Israeli-led conflict as well as ensuring that Iran give up its nuclear ambitions. The deadline passed last week with no signs of compromise by either side, and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz — which Iran closed in response to US-Israeli attacks, putting the global economy in a chokehold for the past six months — still unresolved.” (08/23/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-president-defends-deal-with-us-as-best-option-for-peace/a-78477486
- France: Glucksmann Launches Presidential Bid Amid Fractured Left
Source: US News & World Report
“French centre-left politician Raphael Glucksmann launched a bid for the presidency on Sunday, seeking to challenge firebrand hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon for dominance of France’s fractured left ahead of a campaign increasingly shaped by the far right. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen consistently tops first-round voting intentions, and potential challengers from the political centre and left face an uphill battle to defeat her in a runoff, according to opinion polls. … Glucksmann, a pro-European EU lawmaker who led the mainstream left alliance in the 2024 European Parliament election to 14% of the vote, trails Melenchon in opinion polls and a key question is whether he — or other potential centre-left candidates — could unite moderate left-wing forces.” (08/23/26)
- TX: Judge denies Karmelo Anthony’s request for a new trial in stabbing death
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A Texas judge denied Karmelo Anthony’s request for a new trial on Saturday, dealing a blow to the 19-year-old’s bid to overturn his murder conviction. In June, a Collin county jury found Anthony guilty of fatally stabbing his classmate Austin Metcalf in 2025 at a track meet in Frisco, a suburb 28 miles (45km) north of Dallas. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Anthony’s defense attorneys have sought to have the case re-tried, accusing county prosecutors of violating an off-the-record agreement. In court filings this summer, his legal team said they struck a bargain with the state to narrow the focus of the trial to the day of the track meet, excluding allegations that would raise questions about the moral character of both teenagers. … Defense attorneys said the state broke the deal at the 11th hour, leading Anthony to forgo taking the stand, as was originally planned.” (08/22/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/22/karmelo-anthony-texas-trial
- UK: Prince Harry and others ordered to pay millions over failed lawsuit
Source: Reuters
“Britain’s Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other high-profile claimants face paying millions of dollars out of their own pockets to cover the legal costs of the Daily Mail’s publisher after a judge ruled their failed privacy lawsuits were conducted in an unreasonable way. Judge Matthew Nicklin’s judgment on costs, which was published on Friday, ordered an interim payment from the claimants of £9.54 million, due by August 28, towards the legal costs of Associated Newspapers. … Last month, Nicklin comprehensively rejected the case brought by King Charles’ younger son, John and five other figures, rejecting allegations that the Mail titles had engaged in widespread unlawful activities, such as phone hacking.” (08/21/26)
- US regime orders steep Colorado River water cuts for Arizona, California and Nevada
Source: ABC News
“With the two largest reservoirs in the nation struggling with record-low water levels and the Colorado River, which feeds them, facing years of drought amplified by climate change, the federal government had hoped that the seven states that draw water from the river could reach an agreement on how to divvy up the shrinking supply. After they failed to do so, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) stepped in. On Friday, the agency ordered steep cuts to the amount of Colorado River water that will be delivered to California, Nevada and Arizona. … The agency didn’t mandate reductions to the Upper Basin states, including Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, as it doesn’t have the same legal authority over the upper part of the Colorado River. But it is asking those states to agree to operate the Flaming Gorge, Navajo and Aspinall reservoirs in order to send water down and protect Glen Canyon Dam.” (08/21/26)
https://abcnews.com/US/federal-government-orders-steep-colorado-river-water-cuts/story?id=135856655
- Chinese humanoid robot breaks 100 meter sprint record set by Usain Bolt
Source: United Press International
“A Chinese humanoid robot on Saturday ran a 100-meter sprint in 9.32 seconds, surpassing the world record set by Jamaican legend Usain Bolt. The robot, named Lightning and produced by robotics company Honor, reached a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second during a test run. Lightning is one of 2,000 robots participating in the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. The robot’s sprint on Saturday was .26 seconds faster than Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds, set 17 years ago at Berlin’s World Athletics Championships. Another robot cleared 2.88 meters at the standing high jump, higher than the 2.45-meter world record set by Cuban athlete Javier Sotomayor in 1993.” (08/22/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/08/22/robot-record-bolt/1151787452252/
- Dozens of attacks in southern Thailand wound three people
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Dozens of coordinated arson and incendiary attacks across Thailand’s south left at least three people wounded and government property burned, the military has said. Multiple local government offices and several vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the 51 attacks late on Saturday, according to the military’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC). … Since 2004, a low-level conflict has simmered in the southernmost provinces of Buddhist-majority Thailand, killing more than 7,000 people, as rebels in the Muslim-majority region battle for greater autonomy. No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attacks.” (08/23/26)
- It’s Obnoxious For Westerners To Criticize The Targets Of The Western Empire
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“I still find myself fuming at the way ostensibly well-informed individuals can stand right in the heart of the empire denouncing its targets, as we saw in the open letter that a group of left-wing western individuals addressed ‘to Iran’s political prisoners’ framing Iran as a ‘source of oppression’ equal to the US and its allies. It’s crazy this even needs to be said, but if you are a westerner your ONLY job is to oppose the abuses of the western empire. Not Iran. Not China. Not Russia, Cuba or North Korea. If you live in the US or one of its allied nations, then you live under the single most tyrannical and murderous power structure on earth, and that’s where your focus belongs.” [editor’s note: She seems to be admitting that those other regimes DO commit abuses. That’s progress, I guess. And my job is whatever I damn well decide it is – TLK] (08/24/26)
- My Ideal College
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen“In K-12 education, students are—and perhaps should be—only beginning to think seriously. Especially in earlier years, they do not have enough knowledge or experience to know what they are really interested in. Hence, teachers must just encourage them to explore what they are curious about. By the time they reach college, though, students should have at least some sense of what they are curious about. I don’t think most college students today do (I don’t think they have for the last several decades—that is, I don’t think it was true in CBUs or ETCUs and I doubt it was true in GMUs). If students are encouraged to let their curiosity wander in K-12, this would likely change. Still, I will say something about what to do if they do not come to college with some idea about what they want to study.” (08/24/26)
https://prosociallibertarians.substack.com/p/my-ideal-college
- Robert Nisbet’s Neglected Insights
Source: Law & Liberty
by Luke C Sheahan“Robert Alexander Nisbet first made a splash in academia—and the conservative intellectual movement such as it was—in 1953 with the publication of his first and most famous book, The Quest for Community. Much of what he has to say there and in the rest of his oeuvre proved to be prescient in various ways. Nisbet predicted the rise of loneliness and the decline of the family, the growth of the bureaucracy at the expense of civil society, and the use of the language of democracy and equality to aggrandize the intrusions of political power.” (08/24/26)
- What Comes After Mistrust? Liberalism Needs a Theory of Repair
Source: Liberal Currents
by Pamilerin Samuel“For a long time, the liberal response to institutional mistrust was a mix of condescension and bafflement. If the public did not trust the experts, the assumption was that people were either misinformed or manipulated by bad actors. We lived through a decade of trying to fact-check our way out of a legitimacy crisis. But the tone has started to shift. Across public health agencies, local police departments, housing authorities, and financial institutions, people have watched institutions fail visibly and repeatedly, often without meaningful accountability afterward. In that context, skepticism is not necessarily irrational. It can be a reasonable response to systems that appear distant, unresponsive, or insulated from the consequences of their own mistakes.” (08/24/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/what-comes-after-mistrust-liberalism-needs-a-theory-of-repair/
- The Nixon Shock 55 Years Later: Three Impossible Promises
Source: The Daily Economy
by Jeffery L Degner“Nixon promised jobs, stable prices, and protection for the dollar. His ‘fixes’ helped usher in a new era of inflation, debt, and monetary instability.” (08/24/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-nixon-shock-55-years-later-three-impossible-promises/
- Your guacamole may be helping Mexican cartels while US farmers pay the price
Source: Fox News
by Jayme Franklin“I was born and raised in California, where avocados weren’t just another item on the grocery list, they were a staple of my everyday diet. Today, not much has changed. My family loves avocados, my daughter asks for them constantly, and as someone who loves to cook, I incorporate them into just about every recipe I can. But as a mom who believes deeply in the Make America Healthy Again movement, I’ve started thinking differently about the food I put on my family’s table. MAHA has encouraged millions of Americans to look more closely at ingredient labels, additives and how our food is produced. But I believe the conversation should go one step further: Where does our food come from? Who grows it? Are our agricultural supply chains safe and transparent? And are our purchases supporting American farmers?” (08/24/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/guacamole-helping-mexican-cartels-us-farmers-pay-price
- Central Banking: The Scourge of Civilization
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith“Apple builds and sells iPhones. I happen to own one of the older models, for the same reason I own a last-legs older model car. What if Apple could skip the build part and sell only the phone? The money saved would be an enormous boost to its bottom line. And if Apple passed the savings onto customers I could conceivably afford to upgrade. Where would the phones come from? From a bookkeeping entry, of course. Unfortunately, Apple’s customers are very demanding and want the real things, so the build operations will have to stay. Perhaps their executives looked upon another business and envied their ability to sell loans without drawing down their savings. Customer with good credit wants a loan? Create the amount with a few taps on a keyboard and send him on his way.” (08/24/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/central-banking-scourge-civilization
- New Student-Visa Requirements Earn an “F” in Economics
Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall & Michael Coon“Excitement abounds as college students prepare to return to campus. Some students will begin their college experience. Others will begin the countdown to graduation. But for international students, fall is likely to bring significant anxiety. On Sept. 15, new rules for student visas will place them in a bind, harm universities and impose high costs on one of the country’s strongest service exports: education.” (08/24/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/21/new-student-visa-requirements-earn-an-f-in-economics/
- Presidential Entitlement and the 1998 Bombing of Sudan
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jim Bovard“Last week was the 28th anniversary of the U.S. government’s bombing of a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan. Scott Horton, director of the Libertarian Institute, observed last week that that wanton assault by the Clinton administration ‘helped make a folk hero out of bin Laden, drove up recruitment for Al Qaeda and made it more difficult for the Taliban to give him up.’ Operation Infinite Reach was a farce of the first order—and may have helped pave the way to the September 11 attacks. That carnage resulted in a federal court ruling that practically gave presidents a license to kill any time that they claimed to have good intentions.” (08/24/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/presidential-entitlement-and-the-1998-bombing-of-sudan/
- Trump’s Third-Worldism
Source: Unpopular Front
by John Ganz“Last week, Trump announced that the U.S. will, for 90 days, admit up to 300,000 metric tons of ground-beef product without the normal out-of-quota tariff, and that he has obtained a ‘commitment’ that the beef will be sold 25% below current market prices. This comes on top of February’s much smaller measure allocating an extra 80,000 metric tons of tariff-free lean beef specifically to Argentina. … My immediate reaction to this was, ‘That sounds like some Third World shit.’ A little research would bear this intuition out: this is something like a practice of developing nations. For example, Nigeria during the oil boom of the 1970s.” (08/24/26)
- Quantum Vibe, 08/24/26
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott BieserCartoon. (08/24/26)
- The US Has Lost Trust in the Middle East; Rebuilding It Won’t Be Quick or Easy
Source: Common Dreams
by James Zogby“While the US has a long history of signing treaties, making commitments, and then walking away from them (ask Native American tribes about this), this century’s record of American policy in the Middle East is something quite extraordinary. Dramatic policy shifts, broken treaties, promises made and forgotten, foolish wars fought without attention paid to the mess left for others, and the shattering of international law and conventions—all of these have done substantial damage to the region and to the trust that others have in the US. It’s convenient for Republicans and Democrats to point the finger at the ‘other side’ for America’s loss of standing and support in the world. In reality, there’s plenty of blame to be shared by all of this century’s administrations.” (08/24/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/us-lost-trust-middle-east
- Pitch for defense treaty and moving US military to Israel is insane
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh“On August 18, Israel bombed a non-operational Syrian air base, reportedly to derail Turkish plans to deploy military forces to the installation. The move drew swift condemnation from the United States, which did not receive prior notification despite its growing support for Syria, its alliance with Turkey, and the presence of thousands of U.S. military personnel based nearby, in Jordan and other parts of the region. Is this the behavior of a ‘model ally?’ The Jewish Institute for National Security of America seems to think so. The group, which promotes ‘strategic cooperation’ between the United States and Israel, tries to defend this position in its new report, ‘Shifting the Center of Gravity: Transforming the U.S.-Israel Security Partnership.’ It also lays out an ambitious set of proposals JINSA hopes will be part of a renewed 10-year U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding (the current one expires in 2028).” (08/24/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-israel-integration-mou/
- Europe Built a Single Market—Now It’s Packaging It Away
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes“Starting in 1993, a small business owner in any EU member state could sell to another member state without having to face new bureaucratic or financial barriers at every border. The potential size of a new business was no longer determined by the size of the country where it was based. Today, the European Commission estimates that the Single Market has increased the European Union’s GDP by 3–4% and created 3.6 million jobs since its creation. A study by Bertelsmann Stiftung estimated that integration increases European citizens’ incomes by an average of about €840 ($974) per person per year. Yet the benefits created by this integration, and the freedom that made these benefits possible, began to come under threat on August 12, 2026, quietly and through an apparently harmless packaging regulation.” (08/24/26)
https://fee.org/articles/europe-built-a-single-market-now-its-packaging-it-away/
- Silencing the Watchdog: Why the Pentagon’s Purge of Military Journalists Threatens Free Speech
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey“As the Department of Defense fires top editors and reporters at Stars & Stripes, the clash over editorial independence exposes the dangerous urge to replace oversight with state propaganda.” (08/24/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/silencing-the-watchdog-why-the-pentagons
- Gorsuch’s Con-jority Opinion in Slaughter
Source: Law & Liberty
by Andy Smarick“Gorsuch’s concurrence in Trump v. Slaughter may hold the key to the future of separation of powers jurisprudence.” (08/24/26)
https://lawliberty.org/gorsuchs-con-jority-opinion-in-slaughter/
- Trump Has Good Reason to Reduce US–South Korea Defense Ties
Source: The American Conservative
by Liam Childers“The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit this week, his first to South Korea in five years, comes as Lee seeks China’s help to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang. Beijing reaffirmed its pledge to play a ‘constructive role’ in promoting peace on the peninsula. None of this means Seoul is becoming a Chinese ally. Rather, South Korea, which endured considerable Chinese retaliation for accepting THAAD in the first place, has been reminded that Washington’s priorities often shift without warning. South Korea is simply demonstrating that it is an independent nation with a strong interest in avoiding an unduly antagonistic relationship with its powerful neighbor.” (08/24/26)
- Grab the popcorn for the soap-opera civil wars of both parties in Florida
Source: New York Post
by Josh Hammer“Florida, you might have heard, is no longer purple: Since Ron DeSantis became governor, Republicans have gained nearly 2 million registered voters over Democrats in the Sunshine State. It is an astonishing change in partisanship for the state that famously decided the 2000 presidential election by 537 votes. The outcome of the statewide races in Florida this November, such as those for governor and US senator, are therefore not in much doubt. Democrats might dream about making Florida competitive again, but they might as well believe in the tooth fairy. But if Florida isn’t much in play between the two parties, it’s definitely in play within them. As last week’s primaries indicate, the Sunshine State is the new ground zero for the roiling internal civil wars that have dominated both parties for years. On the Democratic side, the results were a mixed bag.” (08/23/26)
- Limited Government’s Bait and Switch
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman“In a fundamental respect, libertarian minarchism (minimal, or limited, government) and market anarchism (or anarcho-capitalism) have something important in common: neither can guarantee individual rights. But there’s a big difference: unlike market anarchism, minarchism appears to offer a guarantee, which allegedly makes it preferable to market anarchism. Actually, it’s a false guarantee, a bait-and-switch. So it’s not preferable to market anarchism, at least on those grounds. However, what market anarchism can do is show how everyday incentives will tend to protect liberty (and already do now). Minarchism can’t credibly say the same thing because constitutionally limited representative democracy is riddled with well-known perverse political incentives. That makes market anarchism the better bet.” (08/23/26)
https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/limited-governments-bait-and-switch
- Soon You Too Will Be A Commie
Source: The Reframe
by AR Moxon“New York Congressperson Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who is pretty clearly running for president in 2028, made a disappointing statement recently. She was asked about the idea of defunding and/or abolishing the police, and she responded that ‘woke 1.0 was crazy.’ I found that disappointing. I know that by saying I find it disappointing I am encouraging everyone to run their pre-established pundit scripts about elections and voting and political strategy and slogans and AOC as a person and a politician …. I want to focus on why I find Cortez’s statement disappointing—which is that it gave away the frame to bullies, and it’s dispiriting when our politicians, who are meant to represent us, do that. AOC is somebody who has risen to prominence by frequently declining to give away the frame to bullies, so that makes it all the more dispiriting whenever she does so.” (08/24/26)
- Have Flock Cameras Awakened a Sleeping Luddite Giant?
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid“People like me used to be ‘crazy’ but now we’re just inconvenient. 1984 is now and it gets worse every day while you scroll through Pornhub on your iPhone and try not to think about it. We can’t pretend like we don’t know anymore. Not after Edward Snowden. Not after Chelsea Manning. Not after Julian Assange and Virginia Giuffre and Wikileaks and the Epstein Files. We quite simply know too goddamn much to go back now. We know ‘they’ know and they know we know. … This was precisely the kind of climate that ignited the Luddite Rebellion of early 19th century England.” (08/24/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/08/have-flock-cameras-awakened-sleeping.html
- Rethinking Polio
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Forrest Maready“The prevailing understanding of poliovirus pathogenesis posits that the virus, following intestinal infection, gains access to the central nervous system (CNS) through viremia and subsequent crossing of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, this model fails to adequately explain several key epidemiological and clinical features of the historical polio epidemic, including the localized nature of paralysis, the disproportionate involvement of the lower limbs, the increased susceptibility of young children, and the striking predilection for anterior (motor) neuronal damage while simultaneously sparing posterior (sensory) spinal cord structures.” (08/23/26)
- Why Scott Bessent Can’t Fix the Bond Market
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper“During the past several months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a big bet that interest rates were coming down. A whole lot of old 30- and 10-year Treasury bonds with old, low interest rates are coming due over the next year or so, and if they were to be simply rolled over into new same-dated bonds, high borrowing costs would be locked in for a long time. So Bessent rolled them over into short-term bonds instead. The hope was that interest rates would come down, and he wouldn’t have to lock in very high rates. Instead, the opposite happened, and 30- and 10-year rates are at their highest levels in 20 years. Interest costs on the national debt now easily outstrip spending on the military, and are projected to grow, a lot.” (08/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/24/scott-bessent-cant-fix-bond-market-trump-treasury-interest-rates/
- Will AI Replace Human Labour? Revisiting a Question I First Asked in 2015
Source: Freedom and Flourishing
by Winton Bates“In 2015, I wrote an essay entitled, ‘Will robots replace human labour and reduce real wage levels?’ That essay still seems to attract quite a lot of attention even though some of the thoughts in it are now out of date. I did not anticipate the impact of Large Language Models (LLMs). One of the things I like about my previous essay is the use of down-to-earth examples to illustrate processes. So, I will try to continue in that vein.” (08/23/26)
https://www.freedomandflourishing.com/2026/08/will-ai-replace-human-labour-revisiting.html
- The internet always routes around the censors
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle“It is never correct to chastise the media for printing things that are true and important. [Jason] Arday’s academic misconduct is well-documented at this point. To say that they are unimportant is to say that it doesn’t matter whether one of the finest universities in the world can distinguish truth from fiction, or scholarship from a cut-and-paste job. If that’s what Arday’s academic defenders believe, then we should be paying more attention to what’s going on at Cambridge, not less. But they’re mistaken even if you think that a free press doesn’t mean the freedom to pile on. In this year of our Lord 2026, the kind of censorship they want is not just a terrible idea. It is an impossible dream.” (08/23/26)
- Stars and Stripes, Perhaps Not Forever
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“Stars and Stripes is largely funded by, and its operations and distribution are almost completely enabled by, the US government. ‘Editorial independence’ may sound like a wonderful idea, but there’s always been a leash. We’re just watching the leash get shorter. Thankfully, the collar at the end of that leash only strangles Stars and Stripes. These days, even troops aboard ships at sea and at remote firebases in hostile territory have far greater contact with the outside world, most of the time, than even civilians at home enjoyed 50, let alone 150, years ago. … The military news coverage, and consumption, of the future will look a lot more like WikiLeaks than like Stars and Stripes.” (08/22/26)
- Trump plans to lower beef prices by … using communism?
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke“I’ve heard a lot lately about how socialism and communism are bad, at least when it’s a Democrat proposing ways to ease American consumers’ economic pain. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for five municipal grocery stores where a ‘core basket of everyday groceries will be 30 percent cheaper’ was pilloried by Republicans. … OK. But now Trump is saying his new bought-from-wherever imported beef will be sold 25% below the market price. That sounds a lot like the government controlling food prices. The final piece of the hypocrisy turducken is that Trump’s mystery-meat plan wholly undercuts his incessant claims that tariffs don’t affect consumers. … in one fell swoop, President Cheeseburger angered the cattle ranchers who’ve long been loyal to him …. He demonstrated the inanity of the GOP’s fearmongering about communism and socialism. And he confirmed what everyone already knew about his reckless tariffs and the financial burden they’ve imposed on consumers.” (08/23/26)
- America Is Building a Surveillance State Like China’s
Source: Reason
by Steven Greenhut“In the communist Chinese surveillance state, the authorities use facial recognition software, tracking systems and biometric databases that create holographic profiles of every person. Called ‘Bright Eyes,’ this system is straight out of science fiction. It’s the perfect police-state model for controlling the populace along the lines of that ‘1984’ quotation, given it’s impossible to act and speak freely if you’re being watched by people who have the authority to put you in prison. America isn’t there yet, but ALPR technology is leading the long march to this dystopia.” (08/21/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/21/america-is-building-a-surveillance-state-like-chinas/
- America Can’t Revive Manufacturing by Shunning Robots
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray“America won’t outcompete China by restricting imports on robots. It will win by becoming the best place in the world to build and deploy them.” (08/21/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/america-cant-revive-manufacturing-by-shunning-robots/
- Azerbaijan Sues CNN Over Story on Cooperation with Israel in War on Iran
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“There is a novel (and highly dubious) lawsuit filed in Delaware by the nation of Azerbaijan against CNN for a story claiming that it was cooperating with Israel in attacks on Iran. Republic of Azerbaijan v. CNN, Inc. borders on the legally frivolous, but it is likely politically advantageous to show Iran that it contests the allegations. … The basis for the lawsuit is what the country calls ‘CNN’s reckless reporting’ on June 5, 2026 in a post titled ‘Exclusive: Israel sent troops to Azerbaijan during Iran war, sources say’. The article claiming that Azerbaijan allowed Israel to use its territory to launch attacks against Iran no doubt raised the ire of the Islamic Republic. Indeed, the Complaint lays out how Iran threatened any countries assisting Iran and suggested that the story was putting them at risk of an Iranian attack.” (08/22/26)
- Local Patriotism
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“The sign, from an Eat ‘n Park that we sometimes eat at on our Pennsic trip, expresses a common sentiment, that it is virtuous to buy from someone who lives close to you instead of from someone farther away, support the economy of your town instead of that of some other town, that it is ‘just the right thing to do.’ Why?” (08/21/26)
- Why Korea Matters
Source: The Next Move
by Garry Kasparov“South Korea, like many other US allies, provides a friendly presence along strategic transit corridors. The American public’s sudden introduction to the Strait of Hormuz is a stark reminder that these are not just geographic trivia questions but strategic choke points that can make or break global trade—and deliver a real financial blow to ordinary people thousands of miles away. Donald Trump likes to cast allies as freeloaders and ungrateful charity cases (he is vindictive that the South Koreans will not get involved in his poorly conceived war in Iran). This is an awfully flat, transactional view of the world, and in almost every instance it is also inaccurate. US prosperity would be directly impacted if South Korea were absorbed by the Stalinist north.” (08/21/26)
- Israelis who rely on Judaism to protect West Bank Palestinians
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“In much of the Middle East, politics and security are closely intertwined with religion and ethnicity. In Israel, a small but growing minority of citizens seek to improve their country’s security by upholding both the principles of democracy and Jewish directives governing the treatment of fellow humans. In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis, this effort is not easy. Since the Oct. 7 attack, Israel has been focused on wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Yet at the same time, violence by mainly Orthodox Jewish settlers against Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank has spiked. Some 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in encounters with settlers or with Israeli security forces since 2023. The United Nations reported an average of six such attacks a day during the first half of 2026.” (08/21/26)
- Another tragedy of the absence of capitalism
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“We hear enough of how appalling capitalism is in this modern world. We should, perhaps, pay more attention to the disasters that befall those in the absence of capitalism: ‘More than 100 people have died after an artisanal goldmine at a small village in western Central African Republic (CAR) caved in’ …. ‘Artisanal’ in mining terms means men with shovels and little else but a shovel and their labour. … this is non-capitalist mining. The safer way to mine is to perhaps run with an open pit. Or, if tunnelling, to shore up said tunnels. But both of these options require much more money to be spent before there is any revenue from output. They require capital that is. ” (08/21/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/another-tragedy-of-the-absence-of-capitalism
- MAGA and the DSA, Part Two: Differences Between These Populist Antagonists
Source: American Greatness
by Thaddeus G McCotter“America’s dueling populist movements, the Right’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) and the Left’s Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), both believe a powerful, unaccountable entity or entities are unfairly exploiting them and obstructing their personal pursuit of happiness, often colluding among themselves to do so. Exacerbating the situation, at least one of these powerful organizations, the government, is charged with protecting the individual from this very exploitation. Consequently, it is the collusion between the ‘Bigs’ into what G. K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc deemed ‘business government’ that the respective populist movements seek to remedy. Yet, here is where MAGA and the DSA radically differ in their prescriptions.” (08/22/26)
- Trump’s Iran War: America’s Biggest Foreign Policy Failure?
Source: The Realist Review
“TRR editor James W. Carden talks with the scholar Lasha Kasradze.” (08/24/26)
https://therealistreview.substack.com/p/podcast-trumps-iran-war-americas
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 08/24/26
Source: The Dispatch
“‘The One True Libertarian’ | Interview: Jesse Walker.” (08/24/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/the-one-true-libertarian-interview-jesse-walker/
- EconTalk, 08/24/26
Source: EconTalk
“Are We Alone? Cosmic Loneliness and the Longing to Believe (with Adam Kirsch).” (08/24/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/are-we-alone-cosmic-loneliness-and-the-longing-to-believe-with-adam-kirsch/
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/24/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Fury over Natalie Harp Mess Worsens as Leaks Grow More Damning.” (08/24/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/214616/trump-fury-natalie-harp-mess-worsens-leaks-grow-damning
- Charles Goyette on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Was Donald Trump Mousetrapped By Netanyahu?” (08/24/26)
- Bulwark Takes, 08/23/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump Blows Up His Own Trade Deal With Canada.” (08/23/26)
- Free Talk Live, 08/23/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Women now have more tattoos than men :: Bonnie and Mark removing tattoos :: Sarah has a younger sister who is NOT a communist :: Bonnie’s experience contacting her dead grandpa :: Can a ghost haunt a car?” (08/23/26)
- Unattended Baggage, episode 353
Source: Unattended Baggage
“We’ve got nothing in common.” (08/22/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-353-weve-got-nothing-in-common
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/22/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s watch the LNC Meeting with PRESHOW review of Moellman Opinion.” (08/22/26)
- Rising, 08/21/26
Source: The Hill
“Jill Biden responds to theory Joe Biden was drugged before debate.” (08/21/26)
- Nolan Denaro on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump Must Make a Bad Deal to End the War, Will His Ego Get in the Way?” (08/21/26)
- Freakonomics Radio, episode 542
Source: Freakonomics
“Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case?” (08/21/26)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-a-museum-just-a-trophy-case-update/
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/21/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage Darkens as MTG Drops Midterm Bombshell: GOP Is Toast.” (08/21/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/214581/trump-rage-darkens-mtg-drops-midterm-bombshell-gop-toast
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2789
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Why the Campaign Against JD Vance?” (08/21/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2789-why-the-campaign-against-jd-vance/
- Sal and Mark, episode 17
Source: Free Talk Live
“Patri Friedman joins Sal and Mark this week for a wide ranging conversation about the Free Cities movement, charter cities, and why special autonomous zones may be the most practical path to freedom in the modern world.” (08/21/26)
- Reasonably Optimistic, 08/21/26
Source: Washington Post
“Host Megan McArdle talks with UCLA sociologist Gabriel Rossman about scandal, status and public shaming.” (08/21/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 08/21/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“‘Golden Age’ Milestone — Debt Hits $40 Trillion.” (08/21/26)
- The Political Orphanage, 08/20/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Chinese Lobbyists Hate California Pig Laws.” (08/20/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/chinese-lobbyists-hate-california-pig-laws
- Serious Trouble, 08/20/26
Source: Serious Trouble
“Disney sues the FCC to vindicate its First Amendment rights; Luigi Mangione pleads guilty, and wants to avoid being prosecuted twice; AI gets an expert witness in trouble.” (08/20/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/the-happiest-place-on-earth-a-courtroom
- Underthrow Podcast, 08/20/26
Source: Underthrow
“Argentina Tried Socialism. Then Came the Chainsaw.” (08/20/26)